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Slim Pickings at the Times

What do Carlos Slim and Harbinger Capital Partners know about the New York Times Co. that the rest of Wall Street doesn't? The answer, most likely, is nothing.

Buying underperforming companies on the cheap and pushing for changes to boost the stock is a tried and true tactic. But there are some situations so structurally challenged that they resist such a straightforward approach. Newspaper publishers are likely one of them.